Princess Alice and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Princess Alice and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

The late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was raised in dynamic times, being eye witness to the early 20th century London when duchesses took their granddaughters for rides in barouche landaus and issued out visitor cards. She experienced her childhood home converted into a hospital for soldiers during the First World War. At the age of 13, she nearly drowned and made a pact with her god to the effect that, if she survived to tell the tale, she would devote herself to a life of duty. She was an outgoing person who loved adventure. Her twenties, as detailed in the memoirs that she published in her last decade, read somewhat like Out of Africa. Yet her marriage to Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester called her back to the very column vow she had made in exchange for her life. She went full speed ahead into serving King and Country, then, after 1952, Queen and Country. She passed this keen sense of national pride to her sons, Prince William and Prince Richard. Prince William was very much like her--adventurous, Africa-obsessed, and loving to travel. With degrees from Stanford and Cambridge, he was a pilot, a balloonist, and a commercial diplomat. He took a road trip through the USA and traveled to Canada. He worked for the diplomatic services in Nigeria and Japan. He would have been the next Duke of Gloucester, but having predeceased his father at the age of 30, in a flight accident, he left that distinction to his brother, Richard. As just Prince Richard of Gloucester, second son of the Duke, he would have been able to continue his architectural career. But succeeding to the title only two years after his brother's death, Richard and his Danish wife, Brigitte, accepted with grace the obligation to serve the Crown and Country.